District 4 Wonkathon: Camper Vans and Homelessness

As a preface, here is an interactive map that the Northlake Safety and Security Team put together of the camper problem down on Northlake way. They state that in addition to the increasing numbers of vehicles, there are “numerous bags of garbage and debris” plus “12 unusually large piles of dog poop/human feces (?) in just a small section of the walking path”.

Also, I apologize for pairing homelessness with property crime in the question. I was trying to boil the questions down to 5 total and the issues both relate to city responsiveness, but the pairing is ugly and unfair and I regret it. Anyhow, moving right along…

The Question: Wallingford has several camper vans parked down on Northlake Way and homeless encampments in Gasworks and Meridian parks. This has been resulting in violence and mess to the point that the Northlake Safety and Security Team was recently formed to try to contain the problem after they found city government unhelpful. Further, police responsiveness to property crime like car prowls and mail theft and even home burglary is effectively non-existent in Wallingford.

The community has service agencies like Familyworks and Solid Ground, plus local churches that provide services. Programs like low income housing and Conservation Corps with Seattle Parks help with individual cases, but the 10 year plan to end homelessness in Seattle resulted in more homeless people than ever. It is argued the problem is exacerbated by the fact that neighborhoods like Wallingford are the best place to be homeless and receive services in our region.

Solving the problem requires the sort of sustained effort that Seattle government has not demonstrated an ability to undertake, from providing supports to everyone while also deterring abuse of property and laws. What are you planning to do so that city government becomes able to address these problems in a sustained effort?

Tony Provine’s Answer: As a caring and compassionate community, we should provide shelter and programs that connect homeless people with effective services, like job training. Our region’s 10 year plan is well-intentioned but an ineffective attempt to solve the problem of homelessness. Other cities have been more successful. Salt Lake City created a system of supportive housing where unsheltered people wanted to dwell and provided generous on-site counseling for challenges such as drug abuse and unemployment. The SLC results were stunning. In 2004, SLC estimated that each chronically homeless person cost taxpayers $61,000 a year, compared with $16,000 for supportive housing.

As a neighborhood leader I have heard the urgent need for more police officers. Seattle’s police force is understaffed by hundreds; SPD is at 1970’s levels. It is essential that the City of Seattle establish its own police academy to increase staffing quickly. Wallingford would benefit from neighborhood policing with visible foot patrols that deter criminal activity.

We also need to expand the promising pilot program, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), throughout north Seattle Instead of arrests and jail time, LEAD takes a public health, harm-reduction approach where drug offenders receive treatment and housing to transition out of criminal behavior.

Jean Godden’s Answer: First of all, you have correctly explained the situation as I see it: Seattle is an attractive city with a moderate climate. It holds out the promise of jobs and it has a wealth of social services compared to other destinations. For this reason, we draw increasing numbers of newcomers, some of whom have found work; others, alas, have become the new homeless.

Because of a vastly increased need for transitional housing, we recently approved three additional encampments. These encampments will need experienced management and cannot be sited in single-family neighborhoods. Yes, we do need more transitional housing, but not under the nearest underpass nor alongside interstate ramps. Another step is that we need to encourage other communities in the region to assume responsibility and provide for some of the homeless population. If these other communities want help with regional transportation, housing, trails and more, we should expect them to help with the problem.

Despite our efforts to help move the homeless into a more stable existence with a secure roof over their heads, we may always have populations in need. Given the present dearth of services at state and federal levels, the city must work to secure more mental health services. One last note, I have noted the increase in private security forces due to the increasing exasperation with property crimes. I am convinced, in talking with our new police chef Kathleen O’Toole, that she is aware of the issue. Seattle needs more police per capita. We have the smallest ratio of any large city. Increasing the force will be a large undertaking, but it is one that stalled during the recession and we must now address.

Abel Pacheco’s Answer: We need to remember that being poor and homeless is not a crime, and shouldn’t betreated as one. On the other hand, those who refuse help and disregard the health, safety and environment of our communities and are not truly homeless should be required to obey the law. Regarding the issue down on Northlake way, it is my understanding that many of the large vehicles are there months at a time and interact with the neighborhood and authority in not only a hostile but dangerous manner. When the vehicles are moved, they often leave mounds of trash, garbage and even feces in their wake. Alternatives to parking on the waterfront should be available, and if refused, the law should be equitably enforced.

Homelessness is and will be a continuing problem as it is said the poor will always be with us. Fortunately Seattle has a wide variety of nonprofit organizations willing to tackle the problem. These organizations should be given greater flexibility to experiment with different models in dealing with homelessness. One example is to allow “housing first” programs. City grant requirements should be reviewed to allow accountability, flexibility, and innovation.

Michael Maddux’s Answer: Clearly our city needs to invest in more shelter beds, transitional housing, workforce retraining, and day centers with attached services. I believe it is time for Seattle to be bold on revenue, and will work with willing council members to review what options we can and should push for – including a local income tax – to stabilize our revenue stream, decrease regressive taxes and fees, and ideally have the funds in place to provide improved human service infrastructure. In the interim, I do believe we need to identify a short-term measure to address Northlake (and other parts of the city with similar situations). To that end, I will work with service providers, fellow council members, and neighborhood groups, in order to identify options, such as a car-camper encampment, so that people who are living in their vehicles have somewhere safe to be.

On property crime, a separate issue, I do believe we need to be proactive in funding and recruiting more officers, activate community policing within all communities, and ensure our officers have the support they need to adequately patrol neighborhoods and respond to calls – including property crime calls – in a timely fashion. As your next council member, I will accompany officers during each shift for each beat – whether as a ride-along, bike-along, or walk-along – and take the opportunity to learn from our frontline officers what their needs are, while ensuring my district office is a place for residents to bring information about neighborhood and block crime spikes, and know that their concerns are being heard by myself, my staff, and our precinct commanders.

Rob Johnson’s Answer: In Seattle unsheltered homelessness has increased by 30% over the past 5 years, which has been exacerbated by the national and state reduction in mental health and social service funding. Clearly it’s time for a renewed effort to tackle the problem. I’ll push to see us work to expand the successful LEAD program into neighborhoods to reduce crime, I’ll advocate for hiring more officers to improve response times, I’ll push for more community policing efforts so officers can work more closely with communities on chronic public safety issues, and I’ll advocate for the budget to include more support for Solid Ground and other service providers to be able to stay open later, provide more services, and assist more people. I have a strong track record of collaboration with local officials throughout the region on complex policy issues and would engage early to combat homelessness. For example, I fought for the adoption of a low-income fare for Metro bus and Sound Transit light rail riders, both of which were implemented in 2015. Nearly 25% of King County residents are now eligible to ride transit at 50% less than the normal fare, a huge increase in mobility and access for working families.

Where you apologize for pairing homelessness with property crime, you really mean not just property crime, but law enforcement in general, am I right? Weird gents in the wrong park washroom, for example, whatever – effective police presence to resolve problems that are within their domain.

I’m pleased to see that at least one candidate acknowledges that part of the camper van problem might lie within that domain, i.e., we could consider law enforcement as part of the solution to the problem. The Northlake Safety and Security people will no doubt be gratified. I’ve said before, I think that some selective law enforcement would do a lot to clean up the problem, without even affecting the homeless people of the kind the other candidates are talking about.

frankie

Homeless people aren’t de facto criminals, but homeless encampments absolutely empirically increase crime – some from the tenants and some from the people those encampments attract from outside, including drug dealers, prostitutes and other ne’erdowells.

A pile of human shit, for example, is in fact a crime. And a giant collection of expensive mountain bikes ad parts at the center of the camp, is an unlikely coincidence, to put it charitably.

And while MANY homeless people are just good folks in bad times, there’s also a lot of total turds in those groups, and many of us have encountered the bad ones.

If we ignore the negative consequences of encampents like this, we end up doing a disservice to the “real” homeless. Doesn’t need to be a SWAT team clearing them out, but some combination of law enforcement, traffic enforcement and social services could go a long way to cleaning it up, if nothing else.

I was Laid off from my job. I am a single person with no kids. I get a meager salary on unemployment. Even though I am thrifty I am struggling. I was forced to go to a food bank for the first time. Although I appreciated the food it was embarrassing, and some of the food was rotten (seriously) the lines were very long. I was shocked at how many people were there. I noticed newer cars in the parking lot and these were “average” people in line. I do not drink, smoke or do drugs. I am law abiding, educated and I am in a food bank line, in America in one of the wealthest states in the USA. I don’t think the world owes me, I don’t wish to be a burden on society. I am just realizing what is really like to be among the poor.

I have to move out of my apartment now. Did you ever break a lease? It’s costly. DId you ever try to rent an apartment in Seattle? You have to be able to buy a home to pass the rental credit check. Some require you to earn double or triple the rent. I found out you can get your name added to a low incom housing list, but it is very long. If you have no dependants it could take years before your name comes up.

Have you looked at the pricing on apartments in Seattle area? Do it before you comment. Grab an apartment guide, or go to Craig’s List and type in Studio apartment. The housing cost is outrageious!. Some Studio’s in or around Seattle area are going for $1200 -$2000 and they are small. You would either have to have nothing, or you would have to also pay for a storage of some kind to put your things in. If you want a parking spot with that studio that is usally extra.

I have looked into renting a room and people are asking $700 -900 plus utilities and no parking spot. Most people who rent a room, have other tentants (your sharing the space with a lot of people) plus they usually have pets, kids, smoking etc.

Before you all comment you should “PRETEND” to be poor and see what you get? Let’s say you earn $15 an hour. (if your lucky) Do the math. The basics: Student loans, car, car insurane? (I know many friends who were forced to give up their car). Rent? Food? Health insurance? (you have to have it or you are fined) If your lucky you might squeeze in a cell phone and internet/cable, but that would be a luxury.

I can see why people live in tents. I don’t want to live in a tent, but I might not have a choice.

If you are an immigrant or from out of the country, or have many kids you might get some help. If you are a responsible person with no kids good luck with that.

Donn

That’s really an interesting subject, and I’m sure many of us could go on for pages examining the root causes and who knows, maybe even solutions. But please … let’s don’t! Can we talk about ways to address the specific issues mentioned in the article?

frankie

Anonymous, unless you’re planning on stealing a bike, selling meth or making a huge pile of feces, you have everyone’s sympathy. The issue on the waterfront down there isn’t the mere fact that there are homeless people there, it’s that their encampment is not responsibly run, is a health hazard and has increased property crimes in the area. Their encampment is hurting the public perception of lawfully behaving homeless folks.

So again, this isn’t actually a discussion about homlessness, but of urban blight and crime. The two can and should be separate issues.

walkinroun

Hmm – this post will not let me vote. It says I have already voted, even though I just now viewed it, and it was posted early this morning.

Eric

Sorry walkinroun. Is anyone else seeing this issue? There are checks in there to prevent duplicate voting, maybe that’s being falsely triggered for you.

“The reports approach the issue from many angles: analyzing the scope of municipal codes in 72 Washington cities, estimating the cost of enforcing laws, examining the intersection of already-marginalized groups and homeless populations and comparing modern ordinances to long-rejected historic exclusion laws, such as Jim Crow.

By providing evidence through historic, legal, moral and financial lenses, students aim to provide policymakers and the public traction for repealing the laws, while starting a dialogue about cultural bias against visible poverty.”

Raven

I seached for the license plate numbers in Seattle Municipal Court public records at seattle.gov and found parking tickets and expired tab tickets issued for the large vehicles parked on North Lake had been paid. The associated names were not listed as registered or out-of-compliance unregistered sex offenders in kingcounty.gov or listed as Washington State Department of Corrections Most Wanted community supervision violators. Therefore, my next theory is the individuals living on North Lake are there because they can be there. They have a view, independence, avoid many types of taxes, are thrifty, and have nice compassionate caring neighbors (us). If the individuals present now move along, then someone with the same preferences will move into the same parking spot. Parking signs are effective if there is constant enforcement. Parking meters are more effective.

Gardner

The people that own these vehicles know the law, and know how this city government works, as well if not better than anyone in the city. Some of these vehicle owners actually pay homeless people to live in their vehicle. The vehicle owners get their 72-hour notice to move the vehicle, move it before the time expires and relocate it, and the game begins again. Case in point, Gene Minetti’s tan box truck B91678X with Cascade Plumbing painted on the side. The thing has been parked in various spots in Wallingford for a long time, but more recently around the Wallingford Post Office. (Go to the Seattle Municipal Court site and look it up.) He was featured in a Channel 11 piece in 2011 as owning $72,000 in parking tickets. One of his vehicles parked near the Post Office was just towed away to Lincoln Towing, but the guy just plays a game with the city like they all do. Throwing money and building shelters doesn’t work. As long as the hand-wringing do-gooders in the city government (and Wallingford residents) refuse to come to grips with the issue and continue to think the solution is to throw money at the problem, nothing is going to change. Change the law and tow these pieces of crap away. If someone is living in them, put them out on the street.

John Boy

#8 “… avoid many types of taxes…”

I would just like to point out that it’s called not buying things.

You too can avoid taxes this way.

Neighbor2You

@7 Laura, I’m a little confused here regarding your link.

How does Tony Provine’s comment regarding increased police patrols (which I think could go a long way to reducing unlawful behavior in our neighborhood) connect to the concept of repealing Seattle ordinances against panhandling, camping, etc.?

And more specifically, how does this relate to the Northlake Way area in question?

Thanks!

Neighbor2You

And, actually, a follow-up question: if elected to the City Council, would Tony Provine be intending to introduce legislation to repeal such ordinances in Seattle?

hayduke

“the 10 year plan to end homelessness in Seattle resulted in more homeless people than ever. It is argued the problem is exacerbated by the fact that neighborhoods like Wallingford are the best place to be homeless and receive services in our region.”

In other words, if you build it, they will come. Kinda makes you wonder if that’s people actually want.

Tony agrees that we need to have more community-style policing throughout our Seattle neighborhoods. This is connected to the 2nd part of Wallyhood’s question.

Tony does not feel that it is appropriate to criminalize homelessness. We should seek other solutions instead.

Look forward to meeting you at an upcoming event.

Sincerely,
Laura

hayduke

Laura, unless they just changed the laws on defecating in public, parking illegally,car prowls, and mail theft, I’m pretty sure those acts are already illegal. No one is “criminalizing homelessness,” they are criminalizing disgusting, dangerous, and anti-social behaviors that negatively impact everyone. Or do you believe the homeless should be allowed to follow a different set of rules than the rest of us?

Donn

Sure, I think anyone would see the sense in cutting people a little slack when they’re in a desperate situation, and that could mean wrt rules that we affluent people on the hill have to follow. We can bust them all for anything and everything, we can say it isn’t appropriate to criminalize homelessness, or we can pursue a productive strategy somewhere in between.

Neighbor2You

Gosh, Laura, I am really not getting this. If our existing laws about camping, panhandling, and so on are considered to be “criminalizing homelessness,” then is Tony’s intention, if elected to the City Council, to introduce legislation to remove those laws?

Seattlelite

I wonder if the people would move on if we didn’t provide so many services in our city. Bellevue and other surrounding cities that don’t offer the programs Seattle does don’t seem to have this problem. Maybe the homeless would spread to these other cities then so they would be motivated to contribute to finding – and funding – a solution.

Also, I noticed none of the candidates mentioned strengthening laws to allow police to actually do something about the homeless encampments that are illegally pooping and creating unsanitary and unsafe conditions. It’s not “criminalizing homelessness” its making people live within the laws that have always been there.

impliedobserver

Pooping seems to be a big issue here. Maybe the candidates could talk about providing facilities. I know Seattle has had failed experiments, but we really need to figure it out.

That could be next in the District 4 series: Practical Perspectives on Public Pooping.

walkinroun

Thanks, Eric. No one else seems to have had the problem of a vote already showing for them, so I will assume it was just some anomaly. I voted for Michael Maddux’s response.

I think some people think there are tons of social services available, but that has not been my experience so much: many services were severely reduced or cut during the recent recession and have yet to recover.

As to the campers, it seems there is a group of people who want some things that are nearly impossible to preserve once they enter “the system”, namely illegal drugs and excessive alcohol, pets, and parties in one or more combinations. Some others have personality disorders and anger problems that make them difficult tenants, neighbors and clients. A few might just want their last remaining shreds of independence. I like Maddux’s camper encampment for these reasons.

Right now the camper folks are able to find and exploit hazy zones within the city that end up making our neighborhoods less safe, less pleasant and less clean. I really don’t think tons of law enforcement is going to be the answer, though some is going to help. Addressing homelessness and affordable housing is part of the solution. Providing addiction services is also part of the solution. Setting aside camper reserves may be a big help, especially if outreach is extended as part of the scene.

My sons and I walked along Northlake for Mother’s Day and witnessed a guy shooting up on an old couch, several folks smoking meth, and lots of garbage. The folks themselves were either polite or indifferent, but no one bothered us. That being said, my car was broken into recently and some of my possessions were taken. It was a bummer and I think we can do better than tolerate this. People with addiction disorders create small and sometimes big property crime problems for others. Those who want help should be able to access it. Those that don’t should be able to have a home place and adequate resources AWAY from the rest of us.

Seattlelite

I agree walkinroun. It’s terrible that this is going on along streets, in parks, along bike trails and in places that used to be safe. We pay taxes so that we can maintain our parks, streets and bikelanes for use and the people who live in them – who don’t pay their fair share – make them impossible for any of us to enjoy. It’s wrong and it should be criminalized. The police should be able to make these people leave. I’m sorry but it’s something our city should address. And more of the same social services that we have already spent oodles of money on and that didn’t work are not the answer. We need to try tough love. Make them leave – make them uncomfortable. Perhaps that will kick people into gear again. Give them a jump start.

Rob

Speaking of a guy shooting up on a couch on Northlake – maybe this was the same day – I think maybe it *was* Mother’s Day – but we walked right past a guy nodding out on that couch with a spoon and a lighter (I didn’t see any hypo) next to him, so I called 911 on him. The medics came, as I watched from a distance (ok, I’m a chicken$#!+) but I got bored waiting for them to get out of the vehicle after about 10 minutes so I don’t know what happened.

Donn

My guess is that the candidates didn’t really have the full picture that some of you have from first hand experience, so it’s hard to say whether they’d stick to their answers if, for example, we supplied them with walkinroun’s rather thoughtful vignette and gave them another chance.

Neighbor2You

Donn, I like the idea of offering the candidates the opportunity to clarify their answers.

I would like to know what “decriminalizing homelessness” means to those who would potentially introduce or vote on changes to our existing laws.

In theory, the District-based Council system means that the Councilmember elected to represent us will have a solid understanding of the impacts to our neighborhood when City Hall takes action. Northlake Way is a good example. The problems are real, and if they’ve been reading this blog, the candidates now all know about them.

So I’d like to know this: now that they’re informed, what are their intentions? How do they see their campaign statements about this issue in terms of the real actions they would take in City Hall?

Donn

The blog is one thing, the comments is another. If you don’t know someone is reading the comments, I think it’s fair to assume they aren’t.

Neighbor2You

Most of the time, yes.

In this particular instance, at least one person posting is directly affiliated with a candidate’s campaign. As such, I have high hopes that our interests, as expressed in the comment thread, will be given consideration, and that we’ll be hearing more on the issue very soon.

Neighbor2You

Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’d be able to vote for a District 4 Council candidate that did NOT take full advantage of Wallyhood (the blog and the comments) as one obvious avenue to hear directly what some of the area residents have to say.

At minimum, I’d expect my District 4 Councilmember to have staff or volunteers monitoring this blog regularly, and incorporating the communication into ongoing discussions about how best to serve the area.

Donn

Oh yeah. A dozen or so pseudonyms, may or may not be different people, who may or may not actually live here, many of them probably dishing out their rehearsed ideological positions on any forum they can find? Can’t think of a better place for my city council to come for guidance. As long as they really only listen to me, it would be fine, but …

Meg

I was discussing this issue with a colleague who volunteers with City Fruit, which maintains fruit trees on the bank just above the N. Pacific encampments (I wanted to know whether these City Fruit plantings had experienced any vandalism). She directed me to the work of Graham Pruss, lead researcher with the Vehicle Residency Research Program at Seattle University. It’s good thoughtful stuff, that captures much of what has been raised in this comment string, and takes it to the next level. Googling “Graham Pruss” will take you to the source, but also some recent NPR and Huffington Post coverage.

jameson

hi my name is James me and my wife and child live in the white and silver bus by Ivers we are not criminals we are not drug addicts in 2011 we lost our house moved into an RV because it was all we could afford we then having our child decided the RV was not big enough and purchased the 40-foot GMC Greyhound bus that we live on now my bus is a three bedroom shower toilet kitchen and living room with plenty of storage underneath and we are not drug attics the people in my camp are not drug addicts the problem with the crime rate in this neighborhood is the big yellow bus that is parked in front of dune they sell methamphetamines out of their bus as well as try to steal from the local businesses they have stolen a van a scooter and yesterday tried to steal a boat off the dock at ivars so for all of you in this community who see the same problem that we do the drug addicts that are living down here amongst us we are trying our hardest to get rid of them please feel free to field your 911 calls to be specific and appropriate vehicle if you just call 911 and say there’s a problem with the buses down there they assume it is all of us if you walk by my bus you will notice that there is no garbage on the ground other than what has blown out of my trash can or been littered by people walking through the neighborhood I clean the sidewalk twice A day for my child’s safety and I keep the junkies ran off as best I can we would love help from this community group in watching the yellow bus and there aliased drug activities calling the police on them every time you see illicit drug traffic and or activity we cannot do this ourselves and our hands are tied by the law until such time as enough complaints have been issued on them once that bus is removed from this neighborhood I guarantee you a 30 percent drop in your crime rate if you have any questions for me you may feel free to text me at 20627 16504 or stop by and knock on the door of my bus me and my wife are both very friendly people and accept company on a regular basis to discuss what needs to happen to make this neighborhood a better neighborhood again when I first moved into this neighborhood the problem was graffiti artists since I have lived here the breastfeedinghas dropped to almost nothing because they are scared that we are here so in closing some of Us choose to bE address list because my home is nicer than most of yours and I pay no rent my grand total bills in the winter time on 500 a month that includes gas and propane for heat my bills during the summer are less than $200 a month because we don’t use as much propane and all we need is gas for the generator go ahead and look at your guyses electric bill alone you pay more in electric on those given months then I do to live so for those of you who say you would never choose to live this way well I would never choose to live in a box on top of someone else’s box in a bigger box with everybody else’s box I love my bus my family loves my bus and we will live in it until we die again any questions for us or anything that we can help to do to improve the community contact me after weekend we are taking everybody and doing a clean up from the Seattle boatyard to the i5 bridge to help out with Boisture a good neighbourly sentiment and feeling and getting rid of the trashthank you for your time today I look forward to hearing some positive feedback from the neighbors who really want to help make a change in the situation and the rest of you will stay on this website and crying and not do anything to help

Barbbsea

@32. Meg – I steward the fruit tree plantings for City Fruit and have not seen any vandalism in the orchard. One man likes to adjust the grape vines growing on the chain link fence, but that is a good thing. Last fall one small apple tree with 25 perfect apples was harvested by some passerby, but that happens throughout the city. One of my volunteers told me that a couple of campers approached him and told him how they enjoy the orchard space and like to sit there. My main complaint is that campers leave a LOT of garbage left in that area of Northlake, especially when the vehicle is moved and all garbage gets thrown into the brush or the sidewalk. My volunteers have cleaned up many grocery carts full – including the grocery carts – plus an assortment of needles, as well as buckets of human waste. More recently we’re seeing large trash items such as sofas and seats ripped out of cars.

Lisa

I think I read somewhere in the past Walmart allows RVs to camp in their parking lots. Perhaps all these people could go there?

coco

xhale, do it again.. I am confused, but in final decision annoyed and insulted by jameson remarks. OK, he cleans up, he says. Ok he wants us to help clean up and call polic with careful identicfication of th eproblem makers. he goes onto insult us about living in boxes.. and then continues that we sill not help and cry on this website. OMG!

james

so no insult intended I was simply trying to illustrate the difference in our lifestyle we would like help cleaning up the junkies getting the drug addict junkies out of this neighborhood we are sick of needles in our parks where our children play your children play we would like help from the neighbors on specifically watching the yellow bus recording any of their illicit activities and calling the police every time as far as the neighborhood cleanup starting next Tuesday we are going to go through and pick up the garbage from i-5 bridge propeller park all the way up to what where the other camp is across the street from the Seattle boatyard company we are inviting the neighborhood to come speak your concerns directly to us we would like to address the concerns that the neighbors have because we do not want to live in the sodo where there are violent criminals living we don’t want to have our families in Bálard were there a drunk people causing problems on a daily basis we would like to help get rid of the junkies and make this a great neighborhood it was when we first moved here we encourage all of your neighbors to interact with us and we will point out the problem children and those ones are the ones that we need help watching and getting rid of the rest of us with families just want to be left alone to raise our kids in peace again no insult intended I’m sorry that I got taken is insulting

Donn

I’m sure you didn’t mean that, and really I’m not sure it’s the right word for what “coco” meant. You were though making an unflattering comparison to the apartment situation that’s home to many of your readers here, and it does kind of raise an obvious question. Since that’s such a great life down there, on the bus, and lots of folks here might be looking around for something, they’d ought to think about getting in on that, rather than pay a lot of money for one of those boxes you disparagingly refer to, right? Can you think of any reason why they wouldn’t be entitled to a spot down there, like you seem to think you are?

coco

Well, you insulted us in and you typed it out clearly. You made fun of apartments by calling them boxes and talked about how you wouldn’t want to live in them stackedd one upon another. Instead of living in an apartment or MOVING to the country and paying rent or buying an acre or so.. you instead park illegally and in area of known illegal activities. Secondly you made a remark about how” the rest of you will just stay on the website……. and not help”? That was not intended as an insult?? Get real! you made a huge mean comment at most of the neighborhood.
Why should any of us want to help one guy who says he and his family dont do anything illegal? Who is parked illegally in an area where crime and a lot of junk is in the area? Finally the run-on long rambling sentence/gripe/insult/plea for us to help is scary in its run-on stream of conscious thought pattern; Lack of grammar, punctuation and paragraphs give an impression of disorganized thinking which can be associated with a variety of illnesses of mental states. Is your child enrolled in school?
Go to community meetings. Clean up your own area. Get people into school. Stop ranting and insulting people. Move to a place where you truly are a part of a healhty environment and space, not parked in a parking lot.

jameson

don thank you for the compassion and trying to understand coco you need to pay more attention to what the law says before you tell me I’m doing something illegal we don’t break laws down here Our legal requirements is that we move every 72 hours which we do andI’m trying to get the other people organized on a moving schedule as well many of them are new to this neighborhood and new to this lifestyle as I was saying in previous posts they were living in bushes before they got there Rvs but once we get them into the habit of moving every 3 days as they are supposed to then they will not be violating any laws either what you are failing to see here is the law is written as such we must stay in an industrial zone area hence the strip along the waterfront we must move every 72 hours that’s it so we do these things the problem is the yellow bus is selling drugs and stealing from the neighborhood hasn’t moved in two and a half months I know this because every 3 days when I move i notice wow another moving day going by and they haven’t moved as far as my grammar I apologize I use text to speak on my phone to comment on this blog and my phone apparently doesn’t punctuate ever so once again Coco instead of being angry and attacking me on this blog over my miss speak of something that I didn’t mean to be insulting but turned out to be how about Tuesday Noon when we do this neighborhood cleanup you come down and shake my hand and we work together to find a solution to get rid of the drug problem and the crime problem because we don’t want those type of people around our children anymore than you want them around your home the reason why the police cannot do anything about the way we live is because we are not in violation of the law I think if you come down and meet me specifically but any of us would be happy to say hi to you we are the way we live in the family that we have form together perhaps you’ll be able to have a little better understanding of the way we live I’ve lived in apartments in I choose to live on a bus now

Donn

So supposing it’s perfectly legal, and I never said it wasn’t, then you’re entitled to that choice, to live there instead of an apartment. And so is anyone else, it’s their choice. Get a vehicle, move on down there. You have to move every 72 hours, so there’s bound to be a spot open here and there. What a great idea, I imagine your advocacy has the potential to help a lot of people out here.

coco

So all I have to do is move every 3 days? Do I have to clean up any garbage? Trash? Can I deal drugs? Can I steal things and sell them? Can I tell people the people in thisbus or another are the ones who sell meth? How do I get in the habit of moving every 3 days? How far do I have to move? What if the city and neighbors are tired of theft, vandalism, trash, drugs and begin one by one to shut me an dothers out by vigilant careful arrests for all law breaking? t took 2 years of community nudging police and the homeless theft trash drug sales from above I-5 were dismantled. It took 2 years and developers demolished some old houses which were a major problem. Get busy people- call police and get trash removed.

Donn

Those who were here in the ’90s may remember the live-aboard situation, also mainly on Northlake. Really a non-problem, I think, until suddenly real estate got 5 times as expensive, and incomes didn’t get 5 times bigger, people figured out that you could get something kind of like a small mobile home into a marina slip, and these things were being built as fast as they could build them. By then there were enough people who’d been there for years, back in the days when no one minded would be severely impacted by change in policy, so they managed to get “grandfathered” in, which is fine but must make enforcement more complicated. I don’t know if anyone seriously thinks it’s OK for Northlake Way to be a bus settlement, but it’s better to get clear on that earlier, than later.

Gardner

Solving the issue of people like James (if there is such a person named “James”) and these pieces of crap they live in on Northlake Way is not rocket science. The SPD including Parking Enforcement Officers are aware of the issue and want them gone as much as any Wallingford resident. (More on that at the end.) The problem is the refusal of the city government to address the issue and actually do something other than what they seem to do best, blame the SPD for not being PC and getting re-elected. Rezone the places where these things sit. Create Restricted Parking zones. Create No Parking and Tow-Away Zones. Get the SDOT to put in Temporary No-Parking zones and clean the street where these pieces of junk sit and impound them if they aren’t moved. Direct the SPD to ticket the hell out of them and impound them if vehicle plates are not valid or displayed correctly or missing or don’t match the VIN. Have the health department inspect them for improper sewage disposal and condemn them. The list of stuff the city government could do is probably endless. Lincoln Towing would be more than happy to create a special “encampment” in their yard for these vehicles. “James” has had that piece of crap around where it is for over a year. James, do the neighborhood a favor and move, maybe to Laurelhurst. They will love you over there (where you won’t last 10 nanoseconds.) I didn’t see any plates today on the thing, but you probably have an excuse for that, like the excuses you have for everything in your life. (They fell off when you were moving it? Someone stole them last night? The license fairy took them?) Back to the SPD. The SPD, if you haven’t already noticed is sick and tired of being blamed for every ill that comes down the road in this PC city, and as a result the SPD is not being proactive in reducing crime. They will respond to 911 dispatches and major crimes and incidents, but they are not going to go out of their way to do anything regarding these vehicles or the people that live in them unless someone orders them. And Parking Enforcement is not going anywhere near places like the Yellow Bus unless they have SPD backup. They don’t even want to put their hands on the windshield for fear of coming down with some communicable disease. The SPD is in a de-policing mode, and until something changes they will be in that mode for a long time. It’s time to get the city government and city council engaged. Deluge these progressives with letters and e-mails telling them to do something. That’s the only thing might remotely works for these dolts. Don’t bother to send the local TV stations any complaints because they, like the city government, will blame the police for the problem. They love doing that.

Anne

Fascinating debate. I have been a Wallingfod PO Box holder for nearly 40 years and have taken photos of the two dead ass vans filled with garbage dumped there, for months now. I send them in and sometimes there is an orange sticker stuck onto the broken windshields for a time and then the drivers move the disgusting mobile garbage piles and it just goes on.

I have never seen the drivers and can’t imagine how they can even get in there with the massive hoarder garbage but they must. The things move. I wish they would be towed and impounded forever so we don’t have to look at them in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city but that is wishful thinking.

I lived for 10 years on Meridian Ave N and watched the dumping of morning urine from the broken down RV’s parked by the Good Shepard Center. It is an attractive dumping ground due to the small park having bathrooms and running water. Also since there are tons of schools around it gives child predators a great buffet to choose from. And an address-less vehicle to kidnap the kids in, or at least abuse them in (these are men). Several times when coming home later there were drunk and passed out men leaning against my door so I could not get in my home.

I hate having to pay inflated rents and have to look at living garbage. My only thought is to set the things on fire or deflate the tires so the owners lose the vans because they can’t pay to replace the relics. Or. put a boot on the tires so they lose the running garbage dumps.

I used to see such vans parked at Greenlake but the patrols there have stopped it, especially after 11pm at night. Tickets as you know do nothing. I had a meth addicted squatter in one of my homes who owed over 200k in fines and tickets and to unpaid bank bills. It did not stop him from squatting rent free or ripping off everyone. A bat with nails in it does the trick, nothing else.

How about this? We can get a huge 10 pound chain from Tweety and Pops, wrap it around several cement blocks and chain it to the bumpers. That way the maggots that live in and drive these wrecks will have to pay to have them removed and the wrecks will be towed.

If you have relatives who were alive during the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of people lived in their cars, entire families. As rents go up in excess in Seattle. this will once again become the case.

Anne

As a single women I have noticed in the past few years that nearly all the online men are homeless and looking to use women who have homes, for a place to live. I have been threatened with beatings and death and had men try to smash down my front door, because I would not give them money! Or would not give them my home, on demand.

None of the males have jobs and they use the library computers to find “dates” to try and force themselves onto women’s lives. Literally. So they have a place to stay for free ostensibly and then threaten the women to pay their bills. etc.

The last 7 dates I was on, the males told me they had just filed as bankrupt, had no credit and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills. And had criminal backgrounds! One of them managed to get a job yet he is ripping off the system by getting full food stamp bennies while working (busted him). He tried to bash down the front door for meth money but could not recall which door was mine so tried a bunch of them which were not correct. He says he is now a cook at Boom Noodle on Capital Hill yet that is highly doubtful. If they gave this addict a job, they are true fools and anyone who goes there to eat is a bigger fool.

So “dating” is the new way for homeless males to get by…Doesn’t matter which site one uses, it is all the same. They prey on women to get by. No homes, no money, no jobs, no credit, no cars, no passports.

One way to get around the convicts online is to ask for a current US Passport. Convicted felons cannot be issued a passport. Nadda.

Dating is hell now, it is just a free for all with homeless males swarming…

Donn

OK … so … the police answer to no one … homeless men are a menace on the dating scene … City council candidates have their work cut out for them, that’s for sure.

Gardner

I got it! Is this thread good, or what? Homeless men living in orchards telling lies to people living in boxes makes on-line dating difficult on Mother’s Day if they don’t have a bowel movement every 72 hours.

Anne

Time to get jobs of unemployed ones!

Anne

Time to get jobs oh unemployed ones!

Donn

Better, but still not quite right. “oh” is an interjection; what you want is “o”, which I guess would be the vocative article, the only thing that distinguishes the little used vocative case in English, used to address persons. Hope the council candidates’ wallyhood monitor teams are getting all this.

coco

So this week I went out of my way to visit some areas of city I do not usually pass by. I went on lower Westlake just off Mercer and found to mey unhappiness that blocks of places where I used to park for free now have little blue towers and numbers on every spot. This is waterfront area. I just got back from touring the area this article is about- it’s much worse than I thought. If I were managers of Ivars and other close by businesses I would have some precautions set in as well as want this mess gone. How abotu a little city cleanup? With new blue pay for parking towers? That hillside is ideal for more view condos- albeit thin.. but still it is mroe space for internal development.

These guys with the big poorly kept trailers with junk around are doign no one any good.

steve

SPD was there this evening (6/2). Looked like they were busting up the nine – yes, nine – RVs and campers parked across from Westward Restaurant. Too many, parked for too long. And I won’t miss the heroin addicts sitting on the Burke Gilman Trail, shooting up right up the stairs from the RV’s at 7 in the morning. Sorry, but NIMBY that whole situation. BTW, if you don’t already have it, download the “Find It, Fix It” app from City of Seattle. Great app for reporting dumped furniture, potholes, and illegally parked cars. I actually got a quick response from a real human at the city about the parked RV’s. She was sympathetic to people struggling but understood that this type of encampment leads to other problems (trash, crime, drugs, etc). Nice use of technology, Seattle!

creativeartist11

When my grandparents (now dead) grew up they starved through the Great Depression. In order to continue to live, they lived in a neighbors basement for years. They were not charged rent and most likely worked for food. They also planted veggies in the yard.

So the neighbors offered them shelter. They told me they hung up sheets to make different “bedrooms”. My uncle could not bear it and since he was so tall (6 ft 4) he lied his way into the Navy at 17. In those days, before erecords, he got away with it and was able to eat food several times a day. He traveled the world then settled in wild Juneau in those days.

I survived by farming myself out to my more wealthy school friends. Their families had an income of some sort so there was food. If not for them we would have starved.

We suspect our neighbors now, and it is a shame. I don’t advocate taking in meth dealers etc. but sometimes leaving food for someone is a great gift;

ctl

Thank you, creativeartist. I appreciate your post.

pkaczkowski

Fascinating thread, people. Ultimately, we have to learn to live with each other, and talking out our issues is an excellent way to start. Face to face conversations are better, and I appreciate Jamison’s invitation to do so. I also understand the fear some people (especially single women) might have in approaching encampments, but encourage people to push out of their comfort zone and take a small risk if they can handle it.
I feel that we need major political reform to keep up with the rapid pace of change we are seeing, in population growth and economic disparity. I applaud Wallyhood for bringing in politician’s voices, and encourage everyone to participate. This is a great forum… obviously self-selected participation, but representative of more widely held opinions nevertheless.
I want to say that in addition to the Westlake “industrial” zone, there is a notable increase in patently illegal camping within the parks, Woodland in particular, where I walk frequently. The lack of enforcement is truly annoying, especially since we have voted for a new and separate city parks department to manage that resource. The problems reported above (long term campers, noise and smell from generators, piles of garbage, feces, sketchy people who are often clearly mentally ill) are all present in Woodland Park. The police bust high school keg parties when someone tattles on them (happened to some kids I know yesterday), but leave the illegal campers alone! I’ll try out the FixIt app. Any other suggestions welcome.

Gardner

Women need “…to push out of their comfort zone and take a small risk…” when approaching these rolling trash-heap encampments? What world are you living in? Here’s a message for you ladies, “Don’t go anywhere near any of these mobile dumps, and don’t engage the miscreants living in them in any conversation!”

jameson

you’re certainly entitled to your opinion not calling everybody that lives down there miscreants and trashy is a bit extreme the majority of us to live down there have families children jobs that we work full time although there is a good portion of the people in the area that are obvious drug addicted need help from mental resources that doesn’t qualify all of us the writer was saying is that instead of sitting on your computer maybe you should come down and say hi to some of us me and my family live in the Silver and white bus and we be more than happy to greet anyone that comes down and knocked on our door and says hi I’m from the blog and I wanted to meet you again my name is Jameson my wife is Jaclyn my daughter is Starla feel free to stop by come aboard my bus and see how we live I think you’ll realize quickly that you pay way too much money for the same thing but that’s your choice you choose the way you live I choose the way my family lives but lets ease up on the name calling please this is supposed to be an open forum to communicate with each other not fight

pkaczkowski

@Gardner: Please don’t put words in my mouth. I did not write “Women Need” to do anything. I was explicitly acknowledging the additional concerns women might have when approaching strangers. To reduce paranoia, and increase understanding, I do encourage people to re-evaluate their fear of strangers. Of course, do what you want. And by the way, I live in a world where most of the people I meet are nice when you approach them kindly. Sorry if that isn’t your world.

Neighbor2You

@56 You know, that’s a good point. The uneven enforcement of our City ordinances in public parks is hard to understand.

If you’re kids having a keg party, you may get tossed. If you’re camping illegally, you may be allowed to stay.

If you’re homeless and smoking, and caught more than once, you may get arrested. If you’re privileged and running your dog off-leash, you probably won’t get cited.

I’m starting to think that the “Seattle way” of having a bazillion ordinances on the books, and enforcing them randomly (or capriciously) is not such a good idea.

I’d like to hear what other folks think about this. Please weigh in!

Donn

Laws that are only rarely enforced, on a selective basis, should be replaced with laws that clearly address the problem. The 72 hour limit is a case in point here – thousands of people don’t drive a daily commute schedule (thank you), and no one cares that their vehicles are parked at the curb past 72 hours. If there are specific issues we’re trying to solve here, write laws that specifically address those issues. In the worst case, this kind of selective enforcement may be used against people whose real crime is that they’re the wrong color or something.

But no one expects the police to enforce laws with inflexible rigor. Ever been stopped for speeding, and not received a ticket? I bet more than half the drivers who get stopped for moving violations get off with a talking to. Of course it’s a giant can of worms – potential racial discrimination, corruption – but I don’t think there’s any way to make general pronouncements about it. The alternatives are worse. The keg party / homeless camp contrast is a pretty good example of something that calls for exercise of police judgement.

Gardner

I stand corrected. Ladies, don’t go anywhere near any of these mobile dumps, and don’t engage the miscreants living in them in any conversation, unless of course the resident posts a sign letting you know the resident is a drug-free law-abiding citizen. Then it’s okay. Bring cookies and welcome the resident to the hood. Invite the resident to your home or apartment for brunch. The property taxes that pay for schools, road maintenance, traffic controls, parks, police, fire and medic response, libraries, clean water, street lighting, public transportation, garbage collection and disposal and water treatment must be an enormous burden on the owners of these rolling trash heaps.

Berta

Gardner, I don’t know if you’re just a garden variety bigot or a vigilante. Regardless, you need to get some facts under your belt, rather than just spewing off Fox News-type fear rhetoric.

Gardner

Do I detect Fox News Derangement Syndrome? LOL

runyararo

@Gardner; maybe you should “stand corrected” and stop telling any of us “ladies” what to do. We can look after ourselves, thank you very much.

Gardner

Point well taken. Thanks very much for reminding me. I’ll keep that in mind the next time a female is accosted while jogging around Green Lake, or walking home from a club or bar, or walking near or on a campus, or….

jameson (white bus)

What a lot of you are failing to realize is the law for the way we live. my 40 foot vehicle has to be parked in an industrial zone. you moved into the apartments on the hill above where we live because it is a beautiful view of the lake and downtown I get that I live here for the same safety and beautiful views. but when you moved into your apartment above the industrial zone you should have realized that industrial sized vehicles such as my 40 foot bus are going to park here it is a safe neighborhood I’m not scared for my child or wife being attacked at night like we were in the Sodo by drunks or drug addicts. and you think that I’m crazy and should be more normal. being normal is defined as living in an apartment or a house I used to own a house it was nice but I like my bus better but as far as an apartment you live underneath your neighbors toiletliving underneath another human fecies is the most disgusting thing I could ever think of as a human being. the people who are leaving trash out and the people who are leaving excrement around on the ground should be fined . I’m all for writing tickets to the people who are the problem me and my wife both work more than one job and also trying to raise our 3 year old while saving money to buy land. as my wife and myself have stated several times feel free to come down and look at our bus and talk to us when you see how much room is in my 3 bedroom bus you may actually reconsider the fact that you pay 1200 to 2000 dollars a month for your apartment and that doesn’t even include your bills my bus cost me less than $10,000 all ready to go. my bills are about $300 a month on fuel in the summertime and about $500 a month on fuel in the winter time (we use propane for heat). you come by my house there is no pile of garbage outside I have a trash can a recycled can and a food waste can outside my door free for anyone to use and I empty them when they’re full as far as the tabs being expired on my car thank you for pointing that out to me I had not noticed that they expired and I’m going to take care of that problem today once that problem has is resolved I will once again be breaking no laws but yet have to deal with the onslaught of police constantly harassing me and my family. the reason I know I’m not breaking any laws is because I’m parked in an area I am legally required to Be in and I move in an appropriate time frame. as far as being offered housing by the government again these are apartments they want to put us in they don’t screen the people they put in these apartments very well there are rapists drug addicts and murderers in these apartments which brings us back to the point once again it’s an apartment I do not live underneath other peoples feces that is disgusting. in closing I would like to invite all of you down to come visit us I will be home this afternoon by 3 please feel free to come by we’ll have our door kicked open cuz we are deep cleaning all afternoon because Our child returns from Grandma’s house this week so if the doors open pop your head in and say hi we will be more than happy to greet you take you on a tour of our bus and once you see that we are not really homeless we are addressLess and actually live in a very nice home. and to those of you open your nice pretty new restaurants down here in the industrial zone the campers were here long before your restaurants opened with the exception of Ivars so I get it you’re trying to open a high end restaurant on the lake maybe you should look to a non industrial zone to do that inif you don’t want oversized vehicles parking on public parking around your restaurant. I would also like to take this time to especially thank the administrator of this site for intervening between my life and the other person yesterday I greatly appreciate the fact that you are for the most part staying neutral in this conversation you realize the people that are complaining have rights as well as those of us they are complaining about. the laws for campers were set up to be fair to everybody to keep the campers out of residential neighborhoods and in zones that should be being used for business and mixed industrial uses when you build your housing in industrial zones you don’t get to be mad about industrial noise and vehicles thank you once again please feel free to come visit us this afternoon we will give you a tour
Thank you
Jameson And Jaclyn

Blorgcollective

Ok, we live in Ballard, not Wallingford, very near Leary. We are surrounded by mobile homes and now the two houses next to us are empty as they are being demolished. There are only businesses across the street. We are a family with a toddler, and we are often scared. I am aware that homeless people have stories, that they are often good people in a bad place, more often than not however, they are drunks and drug addicts and they breed fucking drama. They also don’t really have the best judge of charecter, and are not adverse to bringing drunken junkies they just met over. The longer they are parked in a certain spot, the greater the activity becomes. I can not tell you how many times we have called the cops. I wouldn’t even care that much if they just MOVED THEIR FUCKING SHITRIGS every 72 hours! We have called the police when they were trespassing, they were caught trespassing by SPD and they did nothing. I guess you don’t have to follow any fucking laws here. So while my family pays out the ass to live here we also get the added bonus of worrying about which one of the 20 squaters or 10 mobile neighbors are going to break into our house. I guess we will have to move? To me it’s fucked up that a paying tenant needs to leave a place becauae lawbreakers are not required to.

Gardner

For God’s sake! I can’t believe you called these vehicles “shitrigs.” I mean, what in the world were you thinking?! From now on, please use appropriate descriptive terms like “mobile dumps” or “rolling trash heaps.” It is however okay to preface the appropriate terms by the word “F*****g.”

Common Sense

MOST homeless in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver B.C. and many other major cities are drunks and heroin addicts. There are always exceptions but anybody who thinks this is not the reality has little or no experience with drugs or homelessness. Many of the homeless who stand on the freeway on ramps have been there for several years with bottles of booze in their hands and track marks in their arms. Garbage is everywhere and they almost always have plenty of food and drinks that people give to them throughout the day. Hunger is not the issue in this area if you are an adult. How many homeless people in Seattle have not eaten in 24 hours? In 48? Not many. Also, many homeless are sex offenders who could not easily find work or a place to live. Would you still give money to the nice guy under the overpass if you knew that he raped a child? Would you still want to pay for his housing?

Help the homeless? First they can pick up their trash. If they can’t do that, they sure as hell won’t be able to hold a job. Second, stop stealing bikes. Every homeless encampment in this city are full of stolen bikes. A majority of the car prowling is done by homeless, many of whom are drug addicts. They are not looking for food and they are not looking for valuables to sell so they can save up for an apartment or a new outfit for a job interview, but a fix. Ever drive around Aurora, Belltown, Georgetown, Chinatown, Lake City or any other neighborhood full of homeless at 3-6am? That is when they are up, either high on crack/meth, or jonesing because heroin dealers usually don’t work those hours. Dealers get up at 6-7am to capitalize on the ones who are up all night so they can charge more or sell them weaker stuff. Why do you think all of the biggest drug spots in this city are located right next to where all the homeless live? I smoke joints with the homeless in my community so they will talk to me openly and with trust. I am yet to meet one who didn’t smoke weed and one who didn’t agree that drugs and alcohol are the biggest blight on the homeless community, causing them to be homeless and keeping them homeless.

Anybody who can prove me wrong please do so highlighting your experience on the street with the homeless and with drugs. If you want to use mental illness as an excuse, sure, that is where the issue gets complex. Where mental illness and addiction overlap is hard to identify, if at all possible. Societies have been trying to figure out what to do with crazy people for thousands of years and we still have no idea what to do with them. However, they are the MINORITY of the homeless population and those who are good, sober people who have been dealt some bad cards are the EXTREME MINORITY. I am guessing but I would be shocked if they made up more than 1% of the homeless population in the pacific northwest. I am not saying that these people are negligible in any way, just that when we talk about homelessness as a whole, we are primarily talking about addicts, not the mentally ill or people who just can’t get it together for honest reasons.

Stop pissing on the sidewalk and piss on plants instead. Stop stealing bikes and walk like I always have, because every bike I have ever owned has been stolen. Pick up your trash, everybody else does it. Clean windshields, break dance, juggle, pick blackberries and sell them, or do any of the things that can make you money instead of just sitting there with a sign asking for something, while giving nothing. That is how most of the world makes their money, with a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of hard work. In Jamaica I watched people collect shells on the beach to sell to tourists. In Nicaragua I watched scores of people dressed nicely at sunrise catching crabs and eating them raw on the beach before work. In Cuba I watched people mow lawns with knives. In Germany I watched addicts beg for money at train stations. In the U.S. and in Canada I almost only see people beg for money rather than try to earn it. You know why they choose not to work for it? They make more money from you by tapping into your guilt and relying on you to give a dollar. You have so much that you feel bad and want to do some good. All you are doing is putting helping the dope boy buy some new kicks and some new white T’s. Let’s stop once and for all being so self-righteous and ostensibly sympathetic and begin to call a spade a spade.

Common Sense

MANY? From my experience it is a tiny fraction and they tend to bounce out of homelessness with a few weeks to a few months max. MANY are drunks and addicts.

Common Sense

If you have a car you are not poor. Do what many people in the world do, they walk a couple of hours to work and a couple of hours to return home. You are still in the top few percentile of richest people in the world.

Common Sense

I am not sympathetic to the economic status of anybody that owns a car or feels entitled to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Common Sense

College kids are suckers for giving money to the homeless and some of the best dope in the city sold on 50th and University AVE. Common sense

Common Sense

How about pissing and shitting in the bushes where people won’t notice. Simple.

Common Sense

Best answer yet. If that would happen we could sit and watch the crime rate go down and the city look cleaner. Pioneer square would actually be a bustling neighborhood again and I could walk down the street without being asked for money EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Common Sense

What percentage of homeless would you say have a drinking/drug problem?
How many have mental illness?
How many are good people like yourself trying to get back on your feet?

runyararo

are you suggesting that people suffering from the disease of addiction are de facto bad people?

Common Sense

No. I asked somebody other than you 3 simple questions that have nothing to do with whether or not somebody is a good or bad person.

Common Sense

No. It is not a disease. However, the odds are much higher that you will be a criminal, thief, abuser and a detriment to society if you are an addict.

Wallyhood is dedicated to fostering community and communication in the Wallingford neighborhood. A group of volunteer editors rotate the responsibility of managing the site, and we welcome stories from all our neighbors.

This week’s editor is ​Jack McLaughlin. You can contact the editor-of-the-week at [email protected].

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